Australian Commonwealth ministries

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The Commonwealth of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901, and the first Commonwealth Ministry took office on that date. Under Australia's Westminister system of government, the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General, who is the representative in Australia of the Australia's head of state, the Queen of Australia. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party or coalition of parties which can command a majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Australian Parliament.

There have only been two exceptions to this convention: in 1901 when no Commonwealth Parliament had yet been elected, the Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, appointed Edmund Barton, who had been leader of the movement for federation and was recognised as the country's leading political figure; and in 1975, when the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the Whitlam government and appointed Malcolm Fraser, although he did not have a majority in the House of Representatives. In both cases the choice of the Governor-General was endorsed by subsequent elections, although the legality and propriety of Kerr's actions continue to be hotly debated.

The Constitution of Australia does not recognise the Cabinet as a legal entity, and its decisions have no legal force. All members of the ministry are also members of the Executive Council, a body which is (in theory, though rarely in practice) chaired by the Governor-General and which meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. That is why there is always a member of the ministry holding the title Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Until 1956 all members of the ministry were members of the Cabinet. The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding Cabinet rank. This practice has been continued by all governments except the Whitlam Government.

When the non-Labor parties have been in power, the Prime Minister has made all Cabinet and ministerial appointments at his own discretion, although in practice he consults with senior colleagues in making appointments. When the Liberal Party and its predecessors (the Nationalist Party and the United Australia Party) have been in coalition with the National Party or its predecessor the Country Party, the leader of the junior Coalition party has had the right to nominate his party's members of the Coalition ministry, and to be consulted by the Prime Minister on the allocation of their portfolios.

When the Labor Party first held office under Chris Watson, Watson assumed the right to choose members of his Cabinet. In 1907, however, the party decided that future Labor Cabinets would be elected by the members of the Parliamentary Labor Party, the Caucus, and this practice has been followed ever since. The Prime Minister retains the right to allocate portfolios. In practice, Labor Prime Ministers have exercised a predominant influence over who has been elected to Labor Cabinets, although the leaders of the party factions also exercise considerable influence.

[edit] Lists of Australian Commonwealth ministries

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